Family Portrait
by Chain of Fate
Summary: Crona just wants the yelling to stop. Why can't he live in a family that loves each other? "Wait...daddy, where are you going? Don't leave me all alone with mommy!" Warnings: Harsh family conditions & Possible child abuse


**AN: I know, I know, I shouldn't even be writing this. I have another fic I should be working on!**

**But the other day I saw this vid on youtube of Crona, Stein, and Medusa to the song "Family Portrait" by Pink, and inspration struck!**

**Really, this is just a little experiment to see how well I can write depressing stories. Somehow, I don't think I did a very good job, but then, I guess that's why I'm posting it, right? To get constructive critisism. **

**So, without further ado, let's get on with the show!**

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><p><em>"Mommy...why are you and daddy yelling at each other all the time?"<em>

_A pat on the head, too rough to be sincere, silences me. She gives me a smile that I can tell is also fake. _

_"Oh, sweetie, that's just us showing how much we love each other."_

::::::::::

They were fighting again. Crona could hear the shatter of glasses breaking from down the hall. The thick covers of his bed did nothing to muffle the noise. It was painful, hearing his daddy, a truly nice man, arguing with his mother in such a way.

He could hear it in his voice, how tired he was. His daddy hated the fighting, almost as much as he hated hearing it, but his wife was always so angry, she ended up dragging him into it anyway.

"You ruined my dreams, you bastard! All I wanted was to go back to school, but no! I just had to stay home with the kid like a good little house-wife!"

"Well, excuse me for wanting our child to grow up with at least one parent around! I work my tail off at that hospital so that we can afford a place like this and give Crona the childhood I never had!"

"Oh please! Stop it with your idyllic dreams already, Franken!"

Crona couldn't take it anymore. He hated walking in on them when they were arguing, seeing them so ugly; but he knew it was the only way that they would stop.

Slowly, he climbed down from his bed, careful of the twisting comforters, and chanced a peek out his door. No sign of them, but the tell-tale smell of new cigarette smoke told him that they were far from done. His daddy told him once that he'd quit smoking when Crona was born, but he seemed to have taken it back up when the fighting started.

He found them in the dining room, his father sitting in one of the chairs, while his mother was pacing in front of the high, floor to ceiling window overlooking the front yard. She never took her gaze off of the moon, large and yellow, like her eyes.

Crona suddenly became afraid. What make him think he could possibly do anything? He just wanted to be back in his bed, away from all the scary yelling, pretending that it didn't exist. But he couldn't move. A combination of his own uncertainty and the look on his father's face kept him rooted to the spot, watching helplessly from behind a wall.

Franken had his head rested in his hand, glasses askew, his eyes looking ages older than they should've, cigarette hanging limply from his mouth as smoke coiled lazily from the tip.

Behind him, Medusa kept on pacing, apparently waiting for something. When it never came, her face looked frustrated, and she turned around, ready to unleash another onslaught of harsh words; but they never came.

She spotted Crona instantly, poking his head out from the entrance to the dining room.

"_Sweetie_," she said tentatively, "what are you doing up?"

Her husband raised his head, and immediately, he looked years younger. He always tried to put on a good face whenever Crona was around. He believed his child deserved at least that much.

"Crona," he smiled, "I thought I'd already put you to bed, kiddo."

"Couldn't sleep. Heard noises." He replied, rubbing his eye with a tiny fist. Letting them think he'd been asleep until then and hadn't heard everything was probably the best option. As it was, they didn't need any more stress on their shoulders.

"I'm sorry. Your mommy and I were just talking." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and she turned her head away with a huff. "How about I take you back to bed, huh? I'll even sleep with you tonight."

He set the cigarette in the ash tray on the table before reaching his arms out to his son. Crona happily obliged, but noted the sour look on his mother's face before they exited the room.

The boy knew this act of parental affection was just as much for his father as it was for him. He needed a break from his wife, and comforting his six year old child until he fell asleep seemed like the perfect distraction.

::::::::::

"Daddy, do you love mommy?"

The question came as a surprise to the young doctor. Crona couldn't possibly know the trouble they were having, could he? No, this boy had absolutely no idea that his parents' relationship was slowly sinking at the rate of the Titanic. At least, Franken certainly hoped not. No child deserved to live knowing such a fact.

The two were laying in Crona's bed together, Franken's back to the wall and his son snuggled up against him. He'd thought Crona was asleep by then, but apparently not.

So, hesitantly, he answered his son's question.

"There was a time when I loved your mother more than life itself. She was my everything. I suppose you could say, in a way, she had me under her spell from day one."

"Do you still love her like that?"

He sighed. Crona's questions were getting tricky, but he refused to lie to his son, so he answered, "Love comes in all types, son. It also changes with time. The love I have for your mom is…complicated, but I promise you, it's there."

The young boy seemed content with this answer, and let his eyes flutter shut as sleep finally caught up to him.

Franken sighed again, for what was perhaps the umpteenth time that day, and carefully removed his glasses, reaching over Crona to place them on the night-stand by his bed.

If it weren't for his son, the doctor would've left this place behind long ago. Only that shy, smiling face kept him rooted in this hell hole, because he couldn't imagine leaving him alone with…_her_.

He knew if he left, he'd lose the custody battle in a second. Who was anyone going to trust more, the mother who was always home with the child, who knew the child better, or the father who worked nearly seven days a week, who some might even call neglectful, if they didn't fully understand the situation?

Right….

So he stayed, because Crona deserved that.

He would stay as long as Crona needed him.

Even if it nearly killed him, he would stay…for Crona…

::::::::::

_"Crona, you're such a good child. Promise you won't ever leave mommy, okay?"_

::::::::::

Crona didn't like looking his mother in the eyes. Her stare frightened him.

He looked forward to the days when his daddy didn't have to go to work, or when he got home early. He was kind, and even though he always looked tired, he would happily play games with Crona, or read him a book when asked.

...Things his mommy always said she was too busy to do...

Whenever he had a nightmare, his daddy never failed to crawl into his bed with him, simultaneously chasing the monsters away, and reassure him that everything would be alright, and that he wasn't going anywhere.

He believed his daddy with all his heart...

...up until the year he turned ten.

Franken hadn't meant for his son to catch him leaving. It was nearly midnight, he should've been asleep; but then, he knew, Crona had never been a heavy sleeper.

"Daddy, where are you going?" Through a sleep fueled haze, still clutching his blanket in his small hands, the young boy sent his father a questioning, but innocent look.

He'd always hated lying to his son. It was his one weakness in this world. Staring into those wide, powder blue eyes, he was instantly reminded of simpler times, when his wife wasn't so cold, and they were just happy together, with their new baby, not a care in the world.

But things were different now. His marriage was practically nonexistent, and he was in the midst of breaking his silent promise to his son, to never leave him, ever, for as long as he was needed…and Franken knew he was still needed.

But god damn! Staying here was only making things worse, and if it wasn't for the fact that home was the best place for his son to be…he'd have taken him with him in a heartbeat.

But it was. And so he left.

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><p><strong>AN: Poor little Crona!<strong>

**I am using the exuse of 3rd Person Omniscient for my fail attempts at point of view writing...'Nuff said...**

**When I was showing this to one of my friends, she started laughing that I'd made Stein the dad. I dunno, that's how it was in the youtube vid, and if you ask me, I think that Stein has the potential to be a really sweet dad...'ya know, when he's not all crazy and stuff... But worry not. If I continue this, then he will be getting plenty of crazy later on~**

**Speaking of which, I'm having an internal debate with myself over whether I should take the time to continue this as a chapter fic, or just leave it as a oneshot. I'll leave it up to you guys, if you feel up to giving me your opinion in a review.**

**Until that's decided, I'll leave the status as "in progress".**

**Thanks for reading!**


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